Greatest Treasure
by bbtdgfan882
Summary: When Lucy gets buried alive on a job to find a family heirloom, Gray rushes frantically to rescue her. Will he make it in time? Written for Day 1 prompt "Breath" for GrayLu Week.


Hello! This is bbtdgfan882, bringing to you a nice little GrayLu fanfic! I wrote this fanfiction for Day 1 of GrayLu Week. The prompt for this story is "Breath". I tried to keep it just about that, but I kind of failed when I wrote too much of a story around it. The moment for the prompt doesn't come in until nearly the end. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Lucy sighed as she looked out the window of the train.

Natsu was passed out with his head on Erza's lap on the opposite seat, Erza had dozed off during the ride, Happy and Plue were playing on the floor between the seats, and Gray sat next to Lucy, gazing off in another direction.

Team Natsu was heading to Kichouna Village on a job request. The village doctor's family heirloom was stolen only months ago. The thieves were caught, but the heirloom was nowhere to be found. Lucy, figuring it would be a simple enough mission offering decent pay and having almost no possibility of her teammates destroying anything, was eager to take the mission, but the long train ride was making her restless.

She turned to Gray. "How much longer do you think it'll be?" she asked.

Gray's eyes flicked to Lucy. "I don't think it should be too much longer. How much is the doctor offering again?"

Lucy pulled out the request paper. "150,000 jewels."

Gray whistled, "That must be one hell of a trinket we're looking for if the man's willing to pay that much."

"It says here that it's a priceless artifact that has been passed down through his family for generations. It probably is worth a lot of money, but I think it probably has more sentimental value to the doctor and his family."

"Hm…"

They were silent after that.

About a half an hour later, the train pulled into the station. As soon as the train stopped, Natsu jumped up.

"Alright! Let's get going, team! That treasure isn't going to find itself!" Natsu shouted.

"Natsu, calm down. We still have to talk to the doctor to find out exactly what it is that we're looking for," Lucy chided him.

"Well then, I guess we better get going," Erza declared.

The team walked through Kichouna Village to the doctor's main office, where they were greeted by a young receptionist.

"Hello there! How may I help you?"she asked brightly.

"We're here to see Doctor Kawano. Is he in?" Erza stated.

"Ah! You must be the young wizards from Fairy Tail! Please, come in," said a brown-haired man wearing a white coat as he stepped into the reception area.

"And you must be Doctor Kawano. I am Erza, and these are Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Gray," Erza said.

Lucy stepped forward and greeted the doctor. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

"Likewise, but please, call me Madoka," he said. "Now, come in, have a seat, and we'll talk about your job." He led them into a rather large office area and sat down behind a desk, gesturing towards a couch for the four young wizards to sit on.

"So doc, what exactly is it that we're looking for?" Gray asked.

"I need you to find an amulet that has been passed down through my family for generations. The pendant's base is silver, and has raised vines in gold surrounding a sapphire cross."

"Hm, sounds very intricate," Erza piped in.

Madoka sighed. "Yes, it is, worth millions of jewels on the street, but it's even more valuable to my family. Please, find the amulet. I wish to pass it on to my son when he comes of age."

Natsu stood up with a confident grin on his face. "No worries, doc, we'll find that amulet for you. Alright guys, let's go!"

"Thank you, thank you!" the doctor exclaimed.

The rest of Team Natsu stood up and bowed to the doctor before promptly leaving the office.

* * *

"Man, we've been digging around here forever!"Natsu complained. The sun bore down on the Fairy Tail wizards as they dug around the beach near the village.

"Relax, Natsu. We're bound to find the necklace somewhere around here. The village guards said this is where the thieves were apprehended, so this is our best bet," Erza said.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for the Kawano family's amulet, would you?" a smooth voice broke in.

Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy turned their heads to see a blond man with clear blue eyes standing on a ledge inland from the coast.

"Who are you?" Erza demanded.

"My name is Kazuhiro. I suggest you don't waste your time trying to find the amulet. Even if you do unearth it, I'll be the one taking it," he sneered.

Gray and Natsu stepped forward and took a fighting stance. Gray's hands were already put together for an Ice-Make spell, and fire swirled around Natsu's fists.

"You really wanna push your luck there, pal?" Gray taunted.

"You have no idea who you're messing with," Natsu added.

Kazuhiro snickered. "And just who would that be?"

Erza stepped in front of Natsu and Gray, requipping into her Heaven's Wheel armor. "We're wizards of Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in all of Fiore."

A cocky smirk adorned Kazuhiro's confident face. "Do you really think I'm scared of a few guild wizards? An ice wizard, fire wizard, and requip wizard are no match for me." His eyes came to rest on Lucy. His smirk grew darker. "And just what kind of wizard are you?"

Lucy's fist clenched, her other hand moving to her keys. "I'm a celestial spirit wizard." She pulled out her keys and picked out Loke's key. "Open, Gate of the-"

A tentacle of sand shot up and snatched the keys out of Lucy's hand. She gasped.

Kazuhiro cackled as the sand brought the keys to him. "I see you have quite a few Gold Keys. I could get rich off one of these keys alone. But, let's see… ten keys? With these and the Kawano amulet, I could retire tomorrow."

"Give those back!" Lucy shouted. She started running towards Kazuhiro, whipping out the fleuve d'étoiles.

A wicked glint flashed in his eyes as Lucy swung her arm back to launch her whip. Another sand tentacle snared Lucy's wrist.

She grunted and struggled against the sand. "Let me go!" she demanded. More sand crawled up her body, and she felt herself sinking. "What's going on?"

"What are you doing to her?" Gray shouted.

"I just thought of a way to make this easier for me. Find the amulet, and I'll release the girl," Kazuhiro sneered.

"But won't she suffocate?" Erza exclaimed.

"Not for a while. I'm keeping the sand from getting close enough for her to breathe it in right now, but my magic can only hold out for so long. My guess is that around midnight, I'll run out of magical energy, and indeed she will suffocate."

"Why can't you just use your magic to find the amulet?"Natsu asked.

"Ah, I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. I can keep tabs on your little friend because I know exactly where she is. My magic is currently surrounding her. However, I don't know where the amulet is. I'm leaving the task of finding to you guys. But you better hurry…" he chuckled as he walked away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Natsu demanded.

"Hm, not too far. I still have to stay in range to keep your friend alive," Kazuhiro said.

"Boys, we better start looking," Erza's voice was strong, but slightly frantic under the surface.

"Hey guys, I have an idea," Natsu chimed in. "Lucy! If you can hear us, summon Virgo to dig you out!"

"That guy took her keys, idiot, that won't work," Gray said.

Natsu was about to protest that last remark when Erza interrupted. Albright guys, let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way. Gray, I want you to keep looking around here."

"Got it," Gray responded.

"Happy, fly Natsu down as far as you can go."

"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed.

"Let's go, buddy!" Natsu said as Happy picked Natsu up and began carrying him down the coast.

"I'll be searching somewhere between you two," she shouted after them, and to Gray.

* * *

Hours passed, but neither Natsu, Erza, nor Gay had any luck finding the amulet. All three wizards were exhausted, but none of them were willing to give up. The sun had set, leaving the full moon to cast it's glowing over the warm, humid night.

Natsu and Erza had thoroughly combed their portions of the beach decided to rejoin Gray, since he had the most ground to cover.

"Any luck at all trying to find the amulet?" Gray asked.

"No, none," Erza responded.

"Come on, guys, we can't give up yet. Lucy needs us!"Natsu said.

The three continued to search, breaking off in different directions but still staying close. Gray looked up at the full moon overhead, cursing his luck. It had to be close to midnight. He thrust his hand onto the ground, sending magical energy into the sand and forming a platform of ice underground. He retracted the ice, pulling up all the sand with it. He jumped into the three-foot deep crater and started digging. He felt a rush of foreign magical energy from underground.

"No way…" he breathed. "Lucy!"

He started digging frantically. About another foot deeper, he felt something warm and soft.

"Lucy!" he exclaimed. He dug up the rest of her body and pulled her into his arms.

"Uh-uh, that's cheating," Kazuhiro scolded, suddenly appearing in front of Gray.

Gray held Lucy's body tightly, noticing that something was off. "She's not breathing! You didn't protect her!"

"Oh, I may have let my magic slip a little," Kazuhiro stated nonchalantly.

"What's going on here?" Erza and Natsu demanded. They saw Gray and Lucy and were relieved, but that relief vanished when they saw that Lucy was passed out and Gray looked frantic.

"What's wrong with Lucy?" Natsu demanded.

"She's not breathing! That asshole didn't make good on his word!" Gray shouted.

Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel yet again. The round of swords circling behind her pointed at Kazuhiro. Her face darkened and her voice dripped with poison as she said, "If Lucy doesn't survive, your death will be slow, painful, and torturous." Her plethora of swords flew towards Kazuhiro.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu exclaimed as raging flames streamed from his mouth.

Kazuhiro obviously wasn't prepared for this fight. He had kept his magic energy up around Lucy up until just a few minutes ago, so he was completely drained. He narrowly dodged Erza's swords, but he was helpless against Natsu's flames.

Meanwhile, Gray was doing compressions on Lucy. He saw her body jolt, and his eyes widened. "Lucy!" he exclaimed in relief. He brought his hands around her face and began giving her breaths. Lucy coughed, and her eyes cracked open.

"Gray?" she mumbled.

"Lucy…" Gray smiled in relief. "You're okay."

"Mm-hm, thanks to you," she breathed as she laid her head against Gray's chest.

So wrapped up in his own relief, he almost missed the metallic glint in the hole he had just dug Lucy up from.

* * *

Lucy woke up in an unfamiliar white room. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, hitting her face. She sat up and saw Gray sleeping in a chair next to her bed.

"Gray?" she put her hand on his shoulder.

Gray woke with a light jumped. A smile broke across his face when he saw that Lucy was awake. He threw his arms around her and held her tightly. "Lucy, thank God you're alright."

She pulled away slightly to look at him. "What happened? I remember being pulled underground and being trapped in the sand for hours."

"That bastard failed to keep his magic up to protect you. Thank God I found you before it was too late. I had to resuscitate you. It was enough to save you, but you still had some sand in your lungs. We had to bring you back to the doctor so he could clean out your lungs," Gray explained.

Lucy nodded her head slowly. She smiled and said, "Thank you for saving me Gray."

Gray smiled back. "Anytime." He pulled her in close once again. They stayed wrapped in each other's embrace for a moment before Lucy remembered the job.

"Did you guys ever find the amulet?"Lucy asked.

Gray pulled back. "Yeah, we did. It was actually buried right underneath you."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. "It was?"

Gray nodded. "As great a find as that was, to me, the greatest treasure, was just above it."

* * *

I hope you guys liked it. This is the first fanfiction I've ever posted (albeit not the first one I've ever written), please, let me know what you guys think! See you guys around! bb - out!


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